Comparative Taxonomy of Two Species of Acanthopagrus Peters, 1855 (Pisces: Sparidae) with the First Record of A. sheim Iwatsuki, 2013 from Iraq

Abstract

Morphometric and meristic characteristics of two species of genus Acanthopagrus (A. arabicus and A. sheim) were described based on 19 specimens of A. arabicus and 10 specimens of A. sheim. Distinguished morphometric characteristics between two species are included; obvious black streak on anal fin in fresh specimens and the black spots on the membrane between spines of dorsal fin found in A. sheim only, while yellow lower lobe of caudal fin in A. arabicus in compared with black or dusky once in A. sheim. Pectoral, pelvic and anal fins being vivid yellow (yellow in A. sheim, anal fin with black streaks), caudal fin being yellow in the lower part, while grayish on the upper part of A. arabicus. The biometric characters of 33 out of 42 morphometric characters of A. arabicus were larger than that of A. sheim, which reported for the first time in Iraqi waters